This Week's Leaders

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Non military wives living abroad

Hi! I just wanted to see if there were any other wives that moved abroad to be with foreign husbands. Thought it would be nice sharing tips and stories about adapting and building a home in new cultures.

Hi! I live in Bucks, not too far away from Reading. This board has been pretty quiet lately...glad to see more expats in this part of England! If you're ever in London, we do get-togethers from time to time.

I'm non-military. My husband teaches at a school in India, and I'm along for the ride. We're also a binational couple - he's Canadian, I'm American, and we're expecting a kidlet that will get dual citizenship, plus a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card. Good times, with all this paperwork to come...

Not a wife yet, 'just' a fiancée. FI is American, I'm from the Netherlands, and we live in South Sudan. We work for NGOs (non-religious), and will be here for another year.
Apart from family and friends, what do you miss most from home?

Not a wife yet, 'just' a fiancée. FI is American, I'm from the Netherlands, and we live in South Sudan. We work for NGOs (non-religious), and will be here for another year.
Apart from family and friends, what do you miss most from home?

@Sonietsjka, You should post this as a new post! It would be nice to see a little more activity on this board.

What is South Sudan like? I can't imagine! I've had some local friends here in Oslo who've worked in Rwanda, but I would think South Sudan is a few steps beyond that!

South Sudan is… different. Before December I would have said it’s great
but then war broke out, people started killing each other, and we got
evacuated, so that was less fun.

It’s basically dirt poor. There are only about 15 paved roads in the
capital, school systems are poor, there’s little health care, no sewage
systems, no trash removal, no power. The whole country is in ruins after
decades of war, and nothing works. There are supermarkets but many things are
very expensive, and we’re quite deprived of some things (cheese!).

I work for an NGO but sometimes I wonder what the f are we all still
doing here? There’s so much to do that you almost don’t know where to start. We
have rest and recuperation (R&R) every 12 weeks, and you really need that.

But the people are so nice! When you meet people it’s always ‘hi, how
are you!?’. It’s one of the few countries in Africa where as a white person you
are not considered a walking ATM machine, which is very pleasant. The weather
is great, it’s nice and warm every day, and even when it rains, it’s still warm
enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt. There isn’t much to do here, especially
since we have 19.30 curfew, but there are nice restaurants (Thai, Indian,
generic International), some of which are at the river, and lovely places to
hang out.

I think Rwanda would be more developed, and in some ways an easier place
to live, but the genocide must still have an impact on the people, and I cannot
imagine that being easy.

On the radio on the way to work I heard that today is the 20th
‘anniversary’ of the Rwandan genocide. Thank